3 most important things learned from the Denver Nuggets Summer League campaign

#2 biggest takeaway: Jalen Pickett is not an NBA player

Sadly, part of the reason the last takeaway is so important and why it wouldn’t be a big surprise to see Alexander getting bench minutes this season is because Jalen Pickett simply wasn’t good in Summer League. The Nuggets had high hopes for the second-year guard who is already 24 years old. 

He played well last year in the Summer League as a rookie and had a solid season in the G-League, but he looks like he has regressed somehow. He played poorly in the first couple of games and almost disappeared in the last few. At his age, and with a guaranteed contract, Pickett should be standing out as one of the leaders of the team and best players on the floor.

He hasn’t stood out at all and if anything he has been deferring to the team’s other, better players like Alexander.  By the end of Summer League, Pickett was basically playing off the ball and making almost zero impact on either end - that’s not what you want to see from your point guard.

It was an abysmal showing and proved why the Nuggets needed to go out and sign Russell Westbrook to lead their second unit because Pickett isn’t close to ready. And at this point, he likely never will be. It’s a tough hit, but an important lesson to learn. The Nuggets could waive Pickett, but that’s really their only option at this point and we’ll see if ownership wants to foot the bill. But at least it’s clear that Pickett can’t be relied on for rotation minutes.